Closure assembly and emergency release locking mechanism therefor

ABSTRACT

A lock mechanism for use on an exit door adapted to be mounted in a door frame having spaced parallel jambs comprises a pair of tandemly abutting bars extending across the inside face of the door. The remote ends of the pair of bars engage a portion of a respective one of the jambs to preclude opening the door from the outside. Means are provided supporting each of the bars comprising a pivot axis normal to the door and disposed closer to the laterally outer end of the bar than to the other end thereof so as to permit its remote end to rotate out of engagement with its associated one of the jamb portions. Yieldable retaining means readily releasably engages and holds the bar from rotating about its pivot axis while means for releasing the bars conjointly to rotate downwardly about their respective pivot axes are provided to include a depresser element movable between advanced and retracted positions to engage the abutting ends of the bars to move the bars free of the retaining means thereby permitting the bars to rotate about their respective pivot axes under their own weight and disengage the remote ends of the bars from the jamb portions.

United States Patent [191 Bogue 1 Apr. 3, 1973 [54] CLOSURE ASSEMBLY AND EMERGENCY RELEASE LOCKING MECHANISM THEREFOR [76] Inventor: Joseph A. Bogue, 661 Eden Avenue,

San Jose, Calif. 95117 [22] Filed: Aug. 5, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 160,352

[52] U.S. Cl. ..49/14l, 49/469, 292/259, 292/52, 292/236 [51] Int. Cl ..E05c 15/02 [58] Field of Search ..49/141; 292/48, 52, 53, 92, 292/93, 236, 237, 204, 207, 259, 21

Primary Examiner-Kenneth Downey Attorney-Flehr, Hohbach, Test, Albritton & Herbert [57] ABSTRACT A lock mechanism for use on an exit door adapted to be mounted in a door frame having spaced parallel jambs comprises a pair of tandemly abutting bars extending across the inside face of the door. The remote ends of the pair of bars engage a portion of a respective one of the jambs to preclude opening the door from the outside. Means are provided supporting each of the bars comprising a pivot axis normal to the door and disposed closer to the laterally outer end of the bar than to the other end thereof so as to permit its remote end to rotate out of engagement with its associated one of the jamb portions. Yieldable retaining means readily releasably engages and holds the bar from rotating about its pivot axis while means for releasing the bars conjointly to rotate downwardly about their respective pivot axes are provided to include a depresser element movable between advanced and retracted positions to engage the abutting ends of the bars to move the bars free of the retaining means thereby permitting the bars to rotate about their respective pivot axes under their own weight and disengage the remote ends of the bars from the jamb portions.

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures CLOSURE ASSEMBLY AND EMERGENCY RELEASE LOCKING MECHANISM THEREFOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention pertains to a burglar-proof closure assembly and an emergency locking release mechanism associated therewith. The invention is particularly useful in conjunction with the barring or bolting of closures, such as exit doors of theaters, dance halls, etc.

Heretofore, in the event of an emergency in a theater, dance hall or the like, a large crowd of people will tend to surge quickly to the exits and, under certain conditions, the pressure of the surging crowd is sufficient to prevent anyone next to an exit door from being able to open the door.

Further, it is frequently desirable that seldom used exit doors be barred shut, but in a manner whereby under emergency conditions, the door can be opened quickly.

A number of such door closure assemblies and other locking means have been previously provided but, typically, these closures have been subject to access by burglars from the outside as by simply removing the hinge pins of the doors hinges.

Thus, there has been a need to provide an exit door or other comparable closure assembly which incorporates the features of being substantially barred with respect to access from without while being readily releasable under emergency conditions from within and generally burglar-proof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION AND OBJECTS In general, a readily releasable barred closure assembly of a type for installation in a wall opening has been provided characterized by a lock mechanism for use on an exit door or other closure adapted to be mounted in a door frame having spaced parallel jambs, comprising a pair of tandemly abutting bars or levers extending across the inside face of the door, the remote ends of the pair of levers engaging a portion of a respective on of the jambs so as to preclude opening the door from outside. Means supporting each of the bars horizontally comprises a pivot axis extending normal to the door and disposed closer to the laterally outer end of the bar than to the other end thereofto permit its remote end to rotate out of engagement with its associated one of the jamb portions. Thus, the pivot axis for each lever or bar is disposed in a manner whereby an end of the lever pivots into and out of engagement with an associated detent means formed in the jamb. Each of the bars is further held by yieldable retaining means readily releasably engaging and holding the bar from rotating about its pivot axis. Means have been provided for releasing the bars conjointly so as to rotate downwardly about their respective pivot axes. The last named means includes a depresser element movable between advanced and retracted posi' tions to engage the abutting ends of the bars to move the bars free of their retaining means and thereby permit the bars to rotate about their respective pivot axes and disengage their remote ends, previously inserted into the detent means of the jambs.

In general, it is an object of the present invention to provide an emergency closure assembly and lock mechanism therefor which overcomes the foregoing and other problems.

It is another object of the invention to provide a closure assembly of a type for installation in a wall opening to provide a door or hatch cover for the opening together with a lock mechanism whereby the door is quickly unbarred though typically remaining burglarproof until opened from the inside.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will become more readily evident from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an isometric view, partly broken away, showing a closure assembly according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged detail section view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows an enlarged elevation detail view taken along the line 4--4 of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In general, as shown in FIG. 1, a readily releasable barred closure assembly 10 of a type for use on an exit door 11 or other closure panel, such as a hatch, is shown as including the upwardly extending, spaced parallel door jambs l2, 13 whereby door 11 can be hinged as by means of hinges such as 14 to swing outwardly in the direction of arrow 16. Jambs 12, 13 in conjunction with the threshold 17 serve to form three sides of a door frame 18 into which door 11 together with lock mechanism 19 is to be disposed.

Once the lock mechanism 19 has been assembled onto door 11 and the door and lock mechanism mounted within door frame 18, the entire closure assembly can be fixed within a wall opening (or other surface of an enclosure, such as the floor or ceiling of a room, all of which are referred to herein as wall openings) thereby installing the entire assembly as a unit within a standard size wall opening. Means for mounting door frame 18 in a manner bounding the inner periphery of the wall opening in fixed relation thereto is considered well known to those skilled in the art and further elaboration is considered unnecessary.

Accordingly, lock mechanism 19 for use on exit door 11 comprises a pair of tandemly abutting locking bars 21, 22 extending across the inside face of door 11. Each of the bars is pivotally supported to rotate about a pivot axis 23, 24 constructed as best shown in FIG. 4.

A transverse base member 26 and spacer member 27 are securely attached to the inner face of door 11 as by means of flathead screws 28 whereby bars 21, 22 can lie firmly, substantially flat against the underlying supporting base member 26 and spacer member 27. In this way, the locking arms 21, 22 will not be readily jostled by pounding on the outside of door 11. Arms 21, 22 are, however, free to rotate downwardly.

Spacer member 27 includes a pocket 29 into which the head 31 of a bolt 32 can be disposed before attaching base member 26. Base member 26 includes a threaded or tapped opening therethrough through which bolt'32 can be threaded until head 31 abuts the face of member 26.

A rigid bushing 33 is disposed to extend through the thickness of, and slightly beyond, the outer face of locking bar 22 whereby a nut 34 can be securely tightened against bushing 33 to compress it longitudinally against base member 26. In this way, no matter how tightly nut 34 is taken up on bolt 32, some limited clearance will remain for the pivoting, swinging movement downwardly of locking arm 22 in the direction of arrow 36 (FIG. 1).

The pivot axes defined for each of the two locking bars 21, 22 (or lever arms) are disposed whereby the laterally outer end of the bar pivots into and out of engagement with an associated jamb portion forming a retaining detent 37, 38 respectively. Thus, at each of the laterally outer ends of bars 21, 22 a reinforcing steel plate 39, 41 is securely fixed to its respective jamb 12, 13. Each of plates 39, 41 includes detent openings 37, 38 respectively for receiving the ends of the rotatable locking bars 21, 22.

Locking bars 21, 22 are further held in a substantially horizontal position by yieldable retaining means readily releasably engaging and holding a respective bar from rotating about its pivot axis. Thus, a depressible button 42 (best shown in FIG. 3) is disposed within a cylindrical housing 43 mounted within spacer member 26. Button 42 is urged outwardly by means of spring 44 until retained by engagement between a flange 46 with an overhanging lip 47 formed on housing 43. The confronting side of bar 21 includes a dimple 48 for engaging button 42. Leading into dimple 48 is a tapered, inclined surface 49 whereby as the bars are drawn upwardly, surface 49 first engages button 42 and gradually depresses same against the urging of its spring load 44 until button 42 and dimple 48 are aligned whereupon the button snaps into the socket thus formed.

While the description with respect to the means for supporting each of the two bars 21, 22 has been described relative to the views shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 respectively pertaining to locking bars 21 and 22, it is to be understood that each of the two locking bars 21, 22 is supported in the same way utilizing a springloaded ball and socket connection as shown in FIG. 3 and a pivotable mounting support as shown in FIG. 4.

When bars 21, 22 are disposed substantially horizontally, the adjacent ends thereof are disposed in substantially abutting relation and means have been provided whereby the two bars 21, 22 form a substantially continuous, functional, unitary bar extending between the jambs 12, 13. Accordingly, the abutting ends of bars 21, 22 are interlocked by means of the semi-circular recess 51 formed in the end of bar 21 and the semi-circular protuberance 52 formed in the end of bar 22.

As described to this point, it will be readily evident at the two locking levers or bars 21, 22 can be substantially horizontally disposed and readily releasably held by means of the ball and socket arrangement shown in FIG. 3 and as horizontally disposed the remote ends of pair of bars 21, 22 are lodged in the slots or detent openings 37, 38 in jambs 12, 13. Inasmuch as both bars 21, 22 are firmly bolted to door 11, door 11 cannot be removed even though the hinge pins from hinges 14 should be removed.

Means for releasing bars 21, 22 from their locked positions have been provided, however, whereby a surging crowd rushing toward the exit door could reliably open the door notwithstanding its previously barred condition.

Thus, the bars are released conjointly to rotate downwardly (to their phantom positions as shown in FIG. 1) about their respective pivot axes 23, 24 by action of a depresser element 53 movable between advanced and retracted positions to engage the abutting ends of bars 21, 22 so as to move the bars free of their holding means 42 and in this way permit the bars to rotate downwardly so as to cause the outer ends of each of the two bars to disengage from their detent slots 37, 38.

As shown best in FIG. 2, depresser element 53 is carried fixed to the upper end of a sliding actuator plate 54. Plate 54 extends downwardly through a gap (not shown) in spacer member 27. Actuator plate 54 is retained substantially flush against door 1 1 by means of the retaining pins 56, 57 formed with relatively large heads extending through guide slots 58.

Means are provided for normally urging actuator plate 54 and depresser element 53 to an'upward position limited by the length of slot 58. Thus, helical springs 59 are anchored at their lower ends to laterally extending pins 61 carried by plate 54 and anchored at their upper ends to stationary pins 62 mounted into the face of door 11.

Accordingly, as thus arranged, downward movement of depresser element 53 serves to dislodge the two locking levers 21, 22 and permits them to fall downwardly under their own substantial weight, thereby rotating their laterally outer ends out of retaining relation with detent slots 37, 38.

Means for driving depresser element 53 downwardly using a force acting toward the door in the direction of arrow 63 includes the relatively broad striking plate 64 mounted to one leg 66 of an L-shaped lever 67 pivotally supported by a pin 68 in a trunnion 69 or other suitable fixture secured to the face of door 11 whereby the other leg 71 of the lever engages the edge of a slot 72 formed in actuator plate 54 to move depresser element 53 downwardly for releasing bars 21, 22 in response to movement of striking plate 64 toward door 11. The outermost position of plate 64 is retained by engagement between leg 71 and edge'75 of the metal cover 80.

It is to be appreciated that, if the striking plate 64 were to be driven rapidly into the plane of the downwardly falling bars 21, 22 during actuation of the locking release mechanism, the upper edge of the striking plate 64 could conceivably become lodged beneath bars 21, 22 at a point prior to withdrawal of their laterally outer ends from detent slots 37, 38, thereby preventing the unlocking of the door. Accordingly, in order to prevent this circumstance, a pair of fixed stop pins 72 are disposed in confronting relation on the inside of each of the arms of the trunnion 69 so as to intercept leg 71 before plate 64 has reached the plane of the downwardly falling arms 21, 22.

Other means for preventing the foregoing intercepting condition can be provided, as for example, extending the striking plate 64 substantially upwardly so as to extend above the uppermost position of the locking bars 21, 22.

Finally, as arms 21, 22 fall under their own weight downwardly to the phantom position shown in FIG. 1, and in order to prevent damage or marking of the door jams 12, 13, resilient bumper buttons 73 are disposed on the jambs 12, 13 in the plane of bars 21, 22 so as to absorb the impact.

From the foregoing, it will be readily evident that there has been provided a substantially improved emergency exit door locking mechanism and assembly and that the arrangement shown is suitable for various types of closures, such as hatch covers and the like. It will also be readily evident that the closure assembly as described above is substantially burglar-proof since, even if the hinge pins are removed from the hinges, access cannot be made. It is further evident that the two locking bars 21, 22 form substantially a continuation of a single bar whereby they cannot be dislodged by severely jostling the door from the outside or otherwise. Only downward depression of the depresser element 53 can serve to release the barred door.

I claim:

1. A readily releasable barred closure assembly of a type for installation in a wall opening to provide a door or hatch cover for said opening, said assembly comprising a frame for bounding said opening and to be disposed and retained therein in fixed relation thereto, a movable closure member disposed within said frame to close said opening, detent means on opposite sides of said frame, a pair of elongate locking levers each carried by said closure member to pivot about an axis substantially normal to the closure member to move between cross-wise and upstanding positions, the pivot axis for each said lever being disposed adjacent one of said detent means whereby an end of the lever moves between inserted and withdrawn positions into and out of an associated one of said detent means, means for releasably holding both said levers in their said crosswise position to insert said ends of the levers into said detent means to retain said closure member within said frame, and striking means movable in a direction toward said closure member serving to release said levers to fall freely toward their said upstanding positions thereby pivoting said ends out of their respective said detent means to release said closure member relative to said frame.

2. In a closure assembly of a type for installation in a wall opening to provide a door or hatch cover for said opening and having a frame bounding the inner periphery of said opening in fixed relation thereto, a closure assembly comprising a movable door to be disposed within said frame, detent means on opposite sides of said frame, a pair of rigid arms carried by said door and disposed in tandem across a face of the door, the remote ends of said tandem pair of arms being disposed to engage said detent means to retain the door within said frame, holding means for readily releasably holding the adjacent ends of said arms in said tandem relationship, said arms being pivoted at their remote ends thereby moving to disengage aid detent means in response to said rotation, and release means to be struck by a person to move same toward the plane of said door and serving to urge said arms free of said holding means to release said arms for said rotation thereby disengaging said ends from said detent means under downward rotation of said arms.

3. A lock mechanism for use on an exit door adapted to be mounted in a door frame having spaced parallel jambs, comprising a pair of tandemly abutting bars for extending across the inside face of the door, the remote ends of said pair serving to engage a portion of a respective one of said jambs to preclude opening said door from the outside thereof, means supporting each of said bars for movement independently of the other comprising a pivot axis normal to the door and disposed closer to the laterally outer end of the bar than to the other end thereof to permit its said remote end to rotate out of engagement with its associated one of said jamb portions under downward rotation of the greater length of said bar, and yieldable retaining means readily releasably engaging and holding each said bar from rotating about its said pivot axis, and means for conjointly releasing said bars from said retaining means to rotate about their respective pivot axes, the last named means including a depresser element movable between retracted and advanced positions to engage the abutting ends of said bars to move said bars free of said retaining means to permit the bars to rotate about their respective pivot axes and disengage said remote ends from said jamb portions.

4. A lock mechanism for use on an exit door adapted to be mounted in a door frame having spaced parallel jambs, comprising a pair of tandemly abutting bars extending across the inside face of the door, the remote ends of said pair engaging a portion of a respective one of said jambs to preclude opening said door from the outside thereof, means supporting each of said bars comprising a pivot axis normal to the door and disposed closer to the laterally outer end of the bar than to the other end thereof to permit its said remote end to rotate out of engagement with its associated one of said jamb portions, and yieldable retaining means readily releasably engaging and holding said bar from rotating about said pivot axis, and means for releasing said bars conjointly to rotate about their respective pivot axes, the last named means including a depresser element movable between advanced and retracted positions to engage the abutting ends of said bars to move said bars free of said retaining means to permit the bars to rotate about their respective pivot axes and disengage said remote ends from said jamb portions, said means for releasing said bars including an L- shaped lever, means pivotably supporting the lever in a manner for one leg to move toward the door, the other leg of the lever engaging said depresser element to move same for releasing said bars in response to movement of said one leg toward said door.

5. In a closure assembly according to claim 2 further including interlocking though unattached portions disposed on the tandemly adjacent ends of said arms for forming said pair of arms into a substantially continuous bar.

6. In a closure assembly of a type for installation in a wall opening to provide a door or hatch cover for said opening and having a frame bounding the inner periphery of said opening in a fixed relation thereto, a closure assembly comprising a door to be disposed within said frame for movement out of said frame to leave the frame unobstructed by the door, detent means on opposite sides of said frame, a pair of rigid locking arms, releasable arm support means carried by said door and serving to releasably support the arms to extend in their aggregate length substantially across the width of said door, mounting means for supporting said arms for movement into and out of said detent means to respectively retain and release the door with respect to the frame, and release means to be struck by a person to move same toward the plane of said door, said release means being movable about an axis spaced from the plane of said door, said release means being unattached to said arms yet serving to dislodge said arms from their first named support means to permit said arms to move to their retracted positions for releasing said ends from said detent means.

7. ha closure assembly of a type for installation in a wall opening to form a door or hatch cover for said opening and having a frame bounding the inner periphery of said wall opening in fixed relation thereto, a closure assembly comprising a door to be disposed within said frame, detent means on opposite sides of said frame, a pair of rigid, elongate locking arms disposed in tandem substantially abutting relation to extend in their aggregate length substantially across the width of said door, said arms being movable independently of each other between engaged and released positions with respect to an associated one of said detent means, readily releasable means for normally supporting said arms in their tandem abutting relation against a force urging said arms to move to their released positions, said arms engaging said detent means while so supported to retain said door within said frame, and means responsive to pressure applied thereto in a direction extending toward said door and serving to release said arms from said readily releasable means to move under action of said force to their released positions with respect to said detent means. 

1. A readily releasable barred closure assembly of a type for installation in a wall opening to provide a door or hatch cover for said opening, said assembly comprising a frame for bounding said opening and to be disposed and retained therein in fixed relation thereto, a movable closure member disposed within said frame to close said opening, detent means on opposite sides of said frame, a pair of elongate locking levers each carried by said closure member to pivot about an axis substantially normal to the closure member to move between cross-wise and upstanding positions, the pivot axis for each said lever being disposed adjacent one of said detent means whereby an end of the lever moves between inserted and withdrawn positions into and out of an associated one of said detent means, means for releasably holding both said levers in their said cross-wise position to insert said ends of the levers into said detent means to retain said closure member within said frame, and striking means movable in a direction toward said closure member serving to release said levers to fall freely toward their said upstanding positions thereby pivoting said ends out of their respective said detent means to release said closure member relative to said frame.
 2. In a closure assembly of a type for installation in a wall opening to provide a door or hatch cover for said opening and having a frame bounding the inner periphery of said opening in fixed relation thereto, a closure assembly comprising a movable door to be disposed within said frame, detent means on opposite sides of said frame, a pair of rigid arms carried by said door and disposed in tandem across a face of the door, the remote ends of said tandem pair of arms being disposed to engage said detent means to retain the door within said frame, holding means for readily releasably holding the adjacent ends of said arms in said tandem relationship, said arms being pivoted at their remote ends thereby moving to disengage aid detent means in response to said rotation, and release means to be struck by a person to move same toward the plane of said door and serving to urge said arms free of said holding means to release said arms for said rotation thereby disengaging said ends from said detent means under downward rotation of said arms.
 3. A lock mechanism for use on an exit door adapted to be mounted in a door frame having spaced parallel jambs, comprising a pair of tandemly abutting bars for extending across the inside face of the door, the remote ends of said pair serving to engage a portion of a respective one of said jambs to preclude opening said door from the outside thereof, means supporting each of said bars for movement independently of the other comprising a pivot axis normal to the door and disposed closer to the laterally outer end of the bar than to the other end thereof to permit its said remote end to rotate out of engagement with its associated one of said jamb portions under downward rotation of the greater length of said bar, and yieldable retaining means readily releasably engaging and holding each said bar from rotating about its said pivot axis, and means for conjointly releasing said bars from said retaining means to rotate about their respective pivot axes, the last named means including a depresser element movable between retracted and advanced positions to engage the abutting ends of said bars to move said bars free of said retaining means to permit the bars to rotate about their respective pivot axes and disengage said remote ends from said jamb portions.
 4. A lock mechanism for use on an exit door adapted to be mounted in a door frame having spaced parallel jambs, comprising a pair of tandemly abutting bars extending across the inside face of the door, the remote ends of said pair engaging a portion of a respective one of said jambs to preclude opening said door from the outside thereof, means supporting each of said bars comprising a pivot axis normal to the door and disposed closer to the laterally outer end of the bar than to the other end thereof to permit its said remote end to rotate out of engagement with its associated one of said jamb portions, and yieldable retaining means readily releasably engaging and holding said bar from rotating about said pivot axis, and means for releasing said bars conjointly to rotate about their respective pivot axes, the last named means including a depresser element movable between advanced and retracted positions to engage the abutting ends of said bars to move said bars free of said retaining means to permit the bars to rotate about their respective pivoT axes and disengage said remote ends from said jamb portions, said means for releasing said bars including an L-shaped lever, means pivotably supporting the lever in a manner for one leg to move toward the door, the other leg of the lever engaging said depresser element to move same for releasing said bars in response to movement of said one leg toward said door.
 5. In a closure assembly according to claim 2 further including interlocking though unattached portions disposed on the tandemly adjacent ends of said arms for forming said pair of arms into a substantially continuous bar.
 6. In a closure assembly of a type for installation in a wall opening to provide a door or hatch cover for said opening and having a frame bounding the inner periphery of said opening in a fixed relation thereto, a closure assembly comprising a door to be disposed within said frame for movement out of said frame to leave the frame unobstructed by the door, detent means on opposite sides of said frame, a pair of rigid locking arms, releasable arm support means carried by said door and serving to releasably support the arms to extend in their aggregate length substantially across the width of said door, mounting means for supporting said arms for movement into and out of said detent means to respectively retain and release the door with respect to the frame, and release means to be struck by a person to move same toward the plane of said door, said release means being movable about an axis spaced from the plane of said door, said release means being unattached to said arms yet serving to dislodge said arms from their first named support means to permit said arms to move to their retracted positions for releasing said ends from said detent means.
 7. In a closure assembly of a type for installation in a wall opening to form a door or hatch cover for said opening and having a frame bounding the inner periphery of said wall opening in fixed relation thereto, a closure assembly comprising a door to be disposed within said frame, detent means on opposite sides of said frame, a pair of rigid, elongate locking arms disposed in tandem substantially abutting relation to extend in their aggregate length substantially across the width of said door, said arms being movable independently of each other between engaged and released positions with respect to an associated one of said detent means, readily releasable means for normally supporting said arms in their tandem abutting relation against a force urging said arms to move to their released positions, said arms engaging said detent means while so supported to retain said door within said frame, and means responsive to pressure applied thereto in a direction extending toward said door and serving to release said arms from said readily releasable means to move under action of said force to their released positions with respect to said detent means. 